Zaley - I'm interested in your group. And an idea I had for getting incredibly cheap fabric, for mock-ups, mess-ups and barn or gardening aprons is to get sheets from the thrift store! I got a plain navy blue sheet from Salvation Army ($2.00) and made three aprons out of it. I even positioned the pockets along the top edge so I didn't need to finish the edges of the pockets. Now is that clever or what! It was fun and I felt so thrifty. (I have also made very nice curtains out of sheets as well.)

I've been thinking of starting a sewing group on here for people to discuss tips and tricks and proof patterns, post photos and whatnot. I'm not sure how to make the group yet, I don't see a button anywhere, but would you ladies be interested?

Don't be discouraged Tina! Try making a mock-up of the dress bodice from cheap fabric first and see what happens! That way if it's not working you can take it apart and try again, and you won't have the worry of wasting the money :)

Barbara, please do post a pic of your dress when done. Could you also post one with the canning apron over? I agree with you, I really like the look of the canning apron over a dress. It's very simple. I can't wait to try one!

Now I'm feeling very discouraged and think maybe I should save my pennies and buy my dresses!! lol. Barbara, I have the Country Dress on my maybe I should try this one, list. Thank you for the great advice about the booklets and making a muslin dress first.

Zaley, I too would love to see a picture of you in just the dress. I'm encouraged by Isabel's comment to try the Surplus Apron. I think I may still need to lose a little more weight for the waist to fit well though. I wear a 10-12 in retail clothing, but I think I'm a 1x in their sizing :( . What dress pattern are you editing now?